A Winner is Two! Nathan Hale
by Aelsthla-Mental
Summary: Entry for "A Winner is Two". Nathan Hale has been selected for a tournament where to lose is to die, and to win is to become rich! Can he survive the unnatural opposition, and his own inner demons?
1. The Beginning

**A Survivalist is You!**

_Entry: Nathan Hale_

Pain…

Pain for as long as he could remember. He had hated the pain for so long.

…Yet now if pain had a human form, he would kiss it. For that pain meant he was alive.

Slowly; grimacing from that ever-present pain, He got up.

He was lying in a rather dirty bed inside a tent. Déjà vu struck Nathan. This had happened before. The last time he had lied here, he had been told he had only three hours until he became a Chimera.

…Or had that been a dream? Looking at his hands, they seemed relatively human.

'Aahh, so you are awake?'

'Malikov…' Hale turned over to see the familiar Russian scientist. The man seemed to have aged, despite being quite old to begin with. Lines of tiredness were all over his face, his movement was stiff, and Hale was pretty sure if he could have seen that man's eyes through the glasses, they would be gaunt and lifeless.

But he didn't look Chimeran, and that was a positive.

'What… happened?' Hale asked weakly, using all his energy to remain upright.

'How are you feeling?' Malikov asked, ignoring Hale's question.

'My head hurts like hell, and I'm feeling a bit weak. But apart from that, fine.'

At the words 'my head hurts', the corner of Malikov's mouth twitched.

'Cappelli was reckless again.' Malikov waved his arms around, exasperated. 'He brought you back when he noticed you were alive after that shot to the head…'

'Shot to the head?' Now he could understand that smile that nearly appeared on Malikov's face.

'You had turned; Cappelli had to shoot you per orders. But when he saw you were alive, he brought you back here, It took him weeks, it's amazing he could make it all this way.

'I've turned? I feel human enough. More human then usual, actually.' He looked at his hands, not because they changed much when he went Chimeran, but it often changed his vision, and would see them in a different light.

'That would go in accordance with the tests.' Malikov sat down on the floor, sighing. 'Apparently that shot sent the virus in overdrive to keep you alive. In doing so the majority of the…' He paused. '…Organism in your body was destroyed.'

'So then, some of it's still in me?'

'Alas that would be a million and one to one chance, what happened to you was a million to one.' A weak smile crept on Malikov's face. 'But it has been reverted far back. Using inhibitors could hold the virus back for a long time.'

'Well, that's good news…' Another stab of pain in his forehead. 'How is the war going?'

'Pretty much the same as before, we've managed to hold them off, but nothing impressive. It's a shaky stalemate for the moment.' Malikov sighed. 'I'm sorry, Hale.'

'Sorry for what?'

'Some men have come looking for you, they wish to speak to your personally, they have promised us supplies and weapons if you talk to them.'

'Why?'

'I don't know, and to be honest I don't trust them.' Malikov sighed, wiping his brow. It was then Hale noticed the sweat on his own body, the air wasn't too hot, but very humid.

'Well, I suppose I best to my part in the war by talking to these guys.' Hale said with a hint of sarcasm. He got up, his legs shaking, his right hand gripping his head as another shot of pain went through it.

'They're just outside, near the truck.'

Slowly, Nathan Hale walked out of the tent. Almost immediately he noticed the truck. It wasn't built to blend in with the forest; it was a dull grey and all too obvious if there was enemies nearby.

Next to the truck, once again in highly visible outfits, were three men. The left and right men were completely nondescript. There bodies were completely covered in black body armour and a helmet. The one in the middle though, had his head visible and slightly different, more bulky armour. Not the most impressive face though. He was an aged man with an eye patch. His visible eye was a cold, uncaring blue.

Yet he gave a smile and opened his arms out invitingly at the sight of him. Even if that smile seemed like one a child would have when he sees a new toy. 'Nathan Hale, it is good to meet you.'

'I'd return the favour, but I have no idea who you are.'

'Aahh yes, how rude of me. My name is Solidus Snake.'

'Not your real name, I take it?' Nathan choked down a laugh.

'No, but names can be changed. After all, I heard one Mr. Sheppard changed his name to Daedelus?'

Nathan growled at that, but Solidus continued undeterred 'A much nicer name I think, for a man can change, and should he not have a new name to reflect that?'

'What is it you want?' Hale snapped. 'In case you don't realize, even as we speak people are dying or being transformed into monstrosity's. So say what you have to, so we can stop those things.' Speaking of Chimera, the forest was unnaturally quiet and Hale could smell the scent of blood. Perhaps there had been an attack recently.

'Aahh yes, the Chimera.' Solidus seemed disinterested. 'Very well then, I am from Australia, as you may know it is the last place in the world free from the Chimera.'

Hale narrowed his eyes. He had known an Australian once, and his accent sounded nothing like him. Perhaps he was just being stereotypical, but still…

'We are doing a bit of… research into people who have volunteered for Project Abraham. Even starting our own, you might say. What we want is you to assist in… testing these individuals who have picked up different abilities due to our experimentations on the strain.'

'So what is in it for us? You mentioned something about supplies and weapons.' Hale narrowed his eyes. The man talked in a similar to his own gruff (if somewhat articulate, which Hale didn't have) voice, if distantly. But there was something amiss.

'Of course, we will send soldiers; I doubt the Chimera will expect such an attack. We have been experimenting with abandon during these blessed years of peace. All we need is an example of Chimera; Sentinels too, which we haven't been able to get our hands on. Give us that, and we will gladly come to assist in the war.'

This wasn't right… The man was speaking what he wanted to hear, not to mention the whole thing seemed off. Why would they want the War Hero to be forced down to experimenting while the war went on? They should be getting another Sentinel.

This man was lying, that was clear. It sounded like he was full of himself, but Hale knew it to be true.

'Not interested.' Hale grunted, turning away.

He missed the glint in Solidus' eye. 'Are you sure? You could be dooming the very country you have spent so many years defending.'

'And they still need me here. To be honest, I don't even think your telling the truth.' Hale didn't even bother to turn around, he kept going.

'Very well,' Solidus sighed, and then. 'I'm sorry it had to come to this.'

The two goons ran forward.

Turning around, Hale's eyes glinted yellow as he brought his fist forward, striking the left goon in the stomach. The other one managed to grab Hale's other arm before meeting his friend in a rather unceremonious *Crash* as he was tossed aside by Nathan. Both of them lay sprawled on the floor, while Hale was still standing, albeit panting. Obviously he had not fully recovered.

'I can't help but feel insulted.' Hale chuckled between deep breaths. 'They send a couple of weaponless thugs and an old man to take me on?'

The goons moaned, starting to get up, this attempt was prevented by a swift kick from Hale, the sound of ribs straining could vaguely be heard from underneath the armour.

Solidus' visible eye however, shined. 'Just what I wanted' he murmured. 'As soon as I heard of you, your tale, I knew we needed you.'

Slowly, he began moving towards Hale. 'We are not so different, you and I. We were both inferior. We both found ways to become better…' Suddenly the armour he was wearing expanded to accommodate a sudden increase in Solidus' muscles. 'Yet in the end who will have the last laugh. You bested your other, that deserves respect that. I knew when I heard of you that I… _We_ needed you for the tournament. I want to see what is in you. What allowed you to best your superior?'

Now Solidus was charging forward.

Hale charged too. Bringing his fist up Hale struck at the man's visible face. The strike was beyond human speed.

Also beyond human was the block. Hale grimaced as the block didn't yield. Holding Hale's fist, Solidus turned around and hurled Hale in a manner similar to what had happened to his goons.

With a *whump* Hale hit the earth, his head spinning, his left fist in agony.

Shaking it off, Hale got up, his movements reverting back to the stiffness they had been when he had just gotten up.

Solidus watched with interest. 'You really are something, you know that Hale?'

Ignoring that, Hale charged, a new plan of action formulating.

Yet once again it began with the same punch.

Once again, he was blocked, Solidus moved to throw, but just as Hale was over his head, he struck with a side-headbutt right in Solidus' face.

Stunned, Solidus let go and fell back.

Hale managed to get out of it in an upright position. Solidus started to get up, Hale kicked…

And got his leg caught by a swift grab, and yanked towards Solidus. With his other hand Solidus extracted a syringe and quickly stabbed Hale in his right arm with it.

The world became blurry; all Nathan Hale could think as darkness overtook him was _'not again…'_

In a place far away from where he had been, an unknown time later, Hale groaned as he heard a cricket chirp in his ear. Reflexively slapping at the general direction, Hale stood up, surprisingly refreshed, if confused.

The first thing he did was look at his hands. To his relief his appearance had not altered at all, it mustn't have been long since he had been knocked out.

Now there was the matter of where he was.

Looking at his surroundings, it was noticeable that the plants were different, mainly unrecognizable. One military rule was to know your environment, and he certainly didn't know this one. Except from the salty taste in the air, that told him he was near the sea.

About to look for water, he noticed lying on the earth, little rust and no vegetation on it, his carbine with a sling and his specially modified glycerine pistol, as well as a sheet of paper.

Quickly picking up the sheet of paper, he started reading.

_Mr. Nathan Hale, if you are reading this you have woken up on an unfamiliar island _('so I'm on an island',Hale noted)_. Please note that this island is inescapable. Any attempt to swim out will be met with an invisible and indestructible barrier; Now, on to business. You have been selected to participate in a tournament. This tournament is being broadcast worldwide. The premise is simple, survive longer then the other participants on the island. To help drive you to succeed is a prize to the winner of ten million dollars from me and extra ten millions from each other associate of mine. As an added bonus, I will be glad to take the money in exchange for the weapons and men you so desperately need (see? I did not lie there)._

_The rules are simple. If you are __**caught**_ (Hale noted the emphasis on that word) _attempting to steal from the small buildings dotting around the map, you may just anger an Enforcer. These men are here to keep the tournament running smoothly and are better equipped then you. So try to keep away from them. Also, they can be ordered or choose to come after you if you try and stay out of combat, so you best not try to avoid battles. Another (obvious) rule is to stay away from the volcano. It has been long dormant, but I wouldn't try your chances!_ (At this point Hale frowned, there was something odd about that line… He couldn't see the volcano either, but the trees were obscuring his view anyway).

_We weren't quite sure what weapons to give you, but we didn't want you to have them all and camp, simply waiting for them to come to you. So I improvised. At the end of this letter will be a clue to another weapon, on that weapon will be a clue to the next and so on. Of course, when you have too many weapons, you'll have to hide the rest…_

_Oh, and another thing I didn't lie about. While yes I lied that these people have Chimeran strains, they do have strange abilities. So don't underestimate your opponents!_

_I wish you luck, and hope to see what makes you tick!_

_-Solidus Snake_

_I'm the weapon that hits the mark_

_I can be found in half-destroyed bark._

Finishing with that riddle, Nathan Hale scrunched up the paper and tossed it away. It appeared that he had been trapped by a madman on an island filled with people who would quite easily kill for money and survival.

It was times like this Hale did believe there was a God. How else could he be shot, drugged and all-in-all end up screaming in agony over and over again, only to get back up for the next one?


	2. Hale vs Bowser, Guns and Turtles

_**First Round, facing Bowser. There you go, hey?**_

* * *

The dirt was nearly mud, the trees glistened with water and life, and the wind changed direction. Foliage rustled in a gentle sea breeze.

Nathan Hale gave a small grin, as with the scent of the sea came mixed with water that wasn't salty. There had to be a body of fresh water nearby.

Following the scent through the foliage, he was rewarded with the sound of a running stream. Perfect, running water was usually the safest to drink.

Not that he had to matter that much. One of the many benefits of being infected was a cast-iron stomach. He could eat pretty much anything. Unfortunately, he also seemed to be more of a meat eater because of it, which was difficult, considering he had only seen small animals so far.

Despite that, he still felt his military training kicking in, he would always be careful of the food he took a bite out of. Before he noticed some small animals that looked like squirrels, only a greyish colour, taking a bite out of a red apple with green stripes; he took it as a sign that it was edible, immediately starting to pick them off the tree and gave one a bite. Perhaps a bit sweet, but he didn't care.

Speaking of food, that was a disadvantage. His higher metabolism due to the virus required him to eat more regularly. That meant he should hope for a quick tournament, even if he should try to avoid too many confrontations. He hadn't a clue how many contenders were here.

Well, at least he found water. Here it was, rushing through rocks like a soldier running from the Leapers. He smirked, realizing he needed to come up with new material.

Nathan abandoned common table manners with relish, crouching down and lapping at the water, stopping only to spit out a leaf that found its way from the stream to his mouth.

Eventually, he had his fill. Getting up, he dusted himself off. Idly, he began wondering what Solidus had meant by unnatural opposition. The quick conclusion was that he would have to find out the hard way.

That reminded him, now he was fed and watered, he should probably look for the weapon that "Hits the Mark". The Bullseye, he mused in his head. But half-destroyed bark was a bit more confusing, and this island was big enough, as far as he could tell, to be a long walk around.

But he supposed it was best to get a move on. He began moving towards the sun, west.

He strolled through the foliage, taking a big breath. It smelled rather nice, actually. Most of the plants around exuded a pleasant aroma; A light purple flower that looked and smelled suspiciously like a violet, Some bright red flowers, large trees, a few bearing fruit. Another idle thought, were the people who brought him here also responsible for the plants? As of yet he didn't see any that looked particularly dangerous, and some looked like they were out of their habitat. Perhaps he was just lucky for once in his life and missed all the dangers.

He didn't even halt for a second as he heard a twig snap nearby. Someone was preparing to attack him, looks like the fight was about to begin. They weren't exactly the stealthiest either. They had the experience, but from the feeling of vibrations they weren't skinny to say the least.

Hopefully looking casual, he reached into his bag. Among the apples he had packed in there were four grenades. One was a concussive grenade, another was a hedgehog (named for its appearance, basically a whole bunch of spikes stuck together by some magnetic force), similar to a fragmentation, but without the explosion and a wider spread. The third was an air fuel grenade, releasing fuel into the air and igniting it. The last one was a spider grenade, and to be honest, he had little idea on what it did. The last time he had used one he was already pelting away pretty damn fast. But he had heard some soldiers calling it that, and the name had stuck. Come to think of it, it had been nice of Solidus to allow him to keep them, although it seemed a bit off. Did his opposition also have weapons? Or were the 'unnatural' enemies so dangerous that grenades would do little good against them? Not a pleasant thought.

While his first hand was rummaging to find a useful grenade, his other hand hung what seemed to be loosely at his side, but it was in fact very close to his magnum in the holster. He wouldn't go for the rifle slung on his back, too obvious.

His hand brushed the air fuel grenade first, by the smooth and flat feel of it. He decided against using it. The foliage was damp, but he wasn't willing to take the risk of a forest fire yet.

The second he felt caused blood to start dripping down his forearm. The hedgehog, it would do. Now, was his opposition going to go for him, or…

Almost silent footsteps, but his chimera-enhanced hearing locked onto it like a siren. He turned around, Magnum already in one hand, and fired expertly, his Chimeran-enhanced strength absorbed the recoil with ease.

His opposition seemed to be a turtle, and when his first shot missed by several centimetres to dig into a nearby tree, he aimed for the head. Unfortunately it had vanished inside the dark green spiked shell.

Still, the shot went and managed to dig perhaps a couple of millimetres into the shell before being ground to a halt.

Hale kept firing, attempting to aim for the gap. Unfortunately the shell started spinning at an amazing speed, and each bullet hit the shell, causing a small bump as it managed to barely get a foothold.

Hale dived out of the way as the shell tore past, a head, arms and legs came out and whatever it was managed to stop just before hitting the tree that Hale had been hoping for.

Hale quickly holstered the pistol and unslung his rifle, deciding that a grenade would probably be a tad hard to use against this opponent. No sooner did he start aiming then the turtle _thing _had once again retracted into its shell, and was once again pelting towards him.

The odds of the rifle's bullets penetrating that shell were only slightly more likely then the magnum he had used before, so in an act of desperation, he fired the 40mm grenade in the rifle.

The explosion was terrifyingly close as the shell covered ground rapidly, but the explosive force was enough to send the shell hurtling back. It tore through a tree like a living chainsaw on steroids and the tree collapsed with a loud crash, blocking the stream Hale had just had a drink from.

Well, he wasn't going to set up camp here. The water source was screwed and that tree falling down would attract unwelcome company.

Speaking of, where was that damn turtle…

The answer came from behind, the creature had attempted to ambush him, but must have still been "shell-shocked" from the grenade, and it tore through bushes and the spikes tore a chunk of flesh from Hale's left arm, the rifle fell to the earth with a soft "Whump".

There was no time to bend down and pick up the rifle, no time to consider the main and the chunk of flesh missing from his arm. Hale tore out his pistol. It seemed that the turtle had to come out of its shell in order to turn properly, so if he just waited…

Hale's hypothesis was proved incorrect. The spinning shell did indeed come tearing back without the turtle inside becoming momentarily vulnerable.

However, the good news was that the shell missed without Hale even having to move, by about a meter or so. The creature didn't have the best sight from within that shell, especially at speed. Good to know.

Even now, a plan formulated into Hale's mind, he charged.

The shell turned a bit, Hale could feel malicious red eyes staring at him. The shell started spinning, and it flew towards him.

It was at that point Hale pressed the switch near the trigger guard; this caused the glycerine bullets from the magnum currently embedded into the shell to detonate.

Hale's gambit paid off, the bullets had hit all around the shell, causing it to go into an abrupt halt, probably stunning its occupant.

Hale dashed forward, magnum at his side. He stuck the magnum inside the hole where the creature's head came out of. But just before he pulled the trigger, the turtle's head shot out and struck Hale's hand. The magnum was sent hurtling away.

The 'turtle' got out of its shell. Hale took a step back as he stared at the face.

It wasn't exactly what he expected. It was difficult to describe. A close one would be mixing a chubby mob boss with a dragon and a demon. A small tuft of red hair on his head was more then made up for with bushy eyebrows of the same colour. Spikes similar to the ones on the shell protruded from its head, and two dog collars were attached on each if it's arms. The creature was also larger then he expected, taller then Hale himself by perhaps three feet. It was a wonder how the creature could fit in the shell.

That wasted second gone, Hale ran for the pistol, but was grabbed by the scruff of the neck and sent flying in the opposite direction, momentarily seeing a malicious grin from the creature, as well as a double or triple chin. Yet another tree received punishment it didn't deserve. Hale grunted, every part of his body screaming for attention. He managed to remain on his feet, but swayed unsteadily.

His opposition took it as an opening, with a roar he charged forward, not bothering to retract into his shell, fist held back and ready.

Hale ducked, feeling a solid fist brush his hair and hearing a loud *crack* as Bowser's fist punched a hole into the tree, sap began pouring out like an open wound, covering Hale's already oily hair and dripping down his face.

Hale shot up, his arm thrusting into an uppercut, striking the turtle's chin with immense force. Unfortunately, there wasn't the *crunch* he had been hoping for, and the turtle merely staggered back, stunned.

Hale wasn't going to give him the chance to recover, his fist shot forward, but the turtle merely retracted his head into the shell and threw a punch of his own. Hale deftly moved out of the way, but he didn't have a wide enough vision to see the other fist coming, it connected with his arm and he grimaced as a bruise began to form. And he swung 360 degrees to get rid of the excess energy. That thing hit like a tank!

'Who would you be? I don't recall you being on the list when I was around.'

Hale was somewhat surprised when the head popped out and started talking to him.

'Suppose I'm a late entry' He grunted, sidestepping a kick from Bowser and karate chopped down on the limb. The creature's thick skin absorbed most of the impact, but the limb retracted and the creature let out a grunt all the same.

'So, do you have a name? If I feel generous, I'll inscribe it into the earth next to your corpse.' Bowser followed this up with fire bursting out of his mouth. Rather shocked at the sudden ability, Hale narrowly ducked, but he could feel rising heat, that idiot may have just started a fire!

Shooting back up, he tried to side-step away from the heat, keeping Bowser in his vision and his fists raised and ready, while trying to see the flames. They were lucky; the fire was unable to maintain its position in the damp grass and died out quickly.

'Name's Nathan Hale, but I was thinking that was the name you could scream in hell.' Nathan hale said casually, deftly moving backwards as the turtle thing slashed out with claws.

'You have a bit of humour, I see.' A glare followed by a kick. Nathan Hale merely smirked and grabbed the outstretched leg, the grin faded as the turtle used his other leg to propel his body, and more importantly his fist, forward, a solid punch struck Hale, narrowly missing his nose. A bruise covered Hale's left cheek. 'I'm Bowser.'

'And what the hell are you?' As Bowser was about to answer, Hale managed to give him a solid punch in the face, a large purple bruise began forming around his right eye. Meanwhile, Hale's bruise had almost vanished, and the chunk of flesh that had been torn out before had nearly completely regenerated, much to Bowser's surprise.

'You're not as normal as you look, are you?'

'Clearly you're not as stupid as you look, either.' Hale retorted, tilting his head to avoid another punch from Bowsers, whose eyes were alight with fury.

'Not a very nice person, are you.' He chuckled, an evil laugh would have been more appropriate, but he needed to keep an eye on this guy.

Speaking of, Hale's eyes shifted, he could vaguely see the outline of his magnum in the grass, still a fair distance away. And Bowser was in that way.

'Now now, let's sort this fight out man-to-man, even if neither of us are truly human. No weapons' He gave a large, spread grin.

Nathan made a noncommittal grunt. He would go for his weapons if he had the chance, but he doubted he would get it.

Bowser took a few steps forward, Hale a few back. He had to keep some distance; otherwise his eyes would have difficulty seeing all four limbs at once.

Another step forward, another step back…

Hale felt the wood in his back, he had been backed into a tree, he tried to feign ignorance, moving as if to take another step back.

It worked; with a tiny smirk, Bowser stepped forward and threw a punch. Hale swayed out of the way, and before Bowser kicked out with his opposite side leg, he had his palms on Bowser's arm and propelled himself forward, managing to lift his body off the ground, sliding around Bowser and held onto his neck for dear life, attempting to squeeze the life out of him.

Bowser's limbs struggled vainly to get a grip on Nathan Hale, who now had Bowsers neck in a stranglehold. Unfortunately Hale was on his back and Bowser's somewhat stubby limbs were too small.

'How does it feel to lose to an underling, huh?' Hale said through gritted teeth.

Bowser responded by dropping down onto his back, exhausted. Hale screamed as some of the spikes on Bowser's shell pierced his flesh, his muscles expanded as he mustered all his strength to keep Bowser from crushing him. The blood from his wounds flowed faster because of it. Hale's bones began groaning with the weight on top of them.

But Hale didn't let go, and Bowser thrashed his limbs, at one point his claw managed to nick Hale's arm, a bead of blood dripped down his forearm.

Hale was barely conscious, the pain perhaps all that kept him holding on tightly to Bowser's neck in a dead man's grip, Bowser kept on bashing Hale's hands against his shell as he attempted to retract his head to no avail.

His body no longer screamed, he felt numb now, and was almost certain his vision was fading.

However, just as his arms were about to drop like a rag doll, Bowser went limp.

Hale felt like he must have sweated out each drop of water he had drunk previously, he panted like a dog. With the last of his strength, he managed to push Bowser off him, and then lay on the ground, his body refusing to do any more.

'_Damn, that Bowser guy was tough. Solidus wasn't kidding…'_ Hale grunted, andd winced as even thinking seemed to strain his body, causing headaches. _'Really should grab my guns, what if some enemy spots me now? I'm defenceless.'_

He closed his eyes, trying to stop the pain.

When he opened them, he found his teeth embedded into Bowser's arm. With a muffled cry, he tore his mouth off, taking a chunk of flesh with him. Noting how his teeth had slid through the flesh as he got them out like razors. Something was wrong.

Groaning, he slowly lifted himself up. He staggered towards his magnum. Picking it up, he holstered it and managed to get a little further before collapsing next to his rifle.

'Good thing he couldn't breathe out of his ass like a normal turtle.' He chuckled, wincing as pain lanced all over his body. The pain persisted, and Hale groaned. His wounds had already started healing, and the pain wasn't coming from them. He looked at his hands and his eyes widened as he saw they had changed, ever so slightly. They were thicker, almost reptilian. His nails had become small claws.

The veins began to fade, yet it still felt… unnatural, unfortunately it was also familiar.

Hale closed his eyes, taking deep breaths. It was happening faster. How was that possible?

'_**Pathetic, and you managed to surpass me?'**_

Hale's eyes widened. _'Daedelus?'_

* * *

_**I'm a bit sad about this chapter...**_

_**Not because of the probably numerous grammar, character, and ability errors, not because I didn't even get to the Bullseye in this chapter.**_

_**No, what's sad is, I am one of the few people in the first round to have written their character KILLING the opponent.**_

_**I mean, I thought most people would do that! But pretty much everyone (heck, even my opponent) has written their chapter with the opponent surviving!**_

_**Now I just feel bad...**_

_**Aahh well, hope you enjoyed the chapter!  
**_


	3. Round 1 Aftermaths

**_Please Note that the writing I am currently using (bold and italicized) represents Daedelus speaking in Hale head in this story._**

**

* * *

**

**Hale Round 1 Aftermaths**

**X Marks the Spot**

'_How are you still alive?'_

Hale allowed that thought to echo through his head for emphasis, meanwhile he searched the underbrush. There had to be some sort of clue, half destroyed bark…

'_**The cells weren't "killed off" as that madman thought, but rather forced into dormancy. The adrenaline was a nice wake-up call, and it's slowly awakening the dormant virus. I also must confess my own part in assisting the virus. After all, I did tell you it was just the beginning.'**_

Hale grimaced, still moving forward. He noticed some disturbed branches. It could be an opposition, or perhaps it had been the person who brought his weapon.

'_So then, I don't have nearly as much time as before, then?'_

'_**You may be able to hold us off for days at most. But tell me, why bother? You've seen what these things can do. You need me Hale, if you want to live.'**_

'_Please, if I have to die in order to save mankind, so be it. I'm willing.'_

'_**Yes, you really do seem to have a death wish…'**_

An odour began filling the air, a rather horrid one that smelled like rotten eggs. His nose crinkled. After moving a little further The trees suddenly stopped to reveal a wasteland covered in the horrid-smelling gas.

It wasn't exactly pleasant to breath, and it didn't look like there would be any resources. So Hale turned left.

And froze, there it was! A tree that looked as if it was half vaporized. Just in the area that still had vegetation.

Taking a deep breath, he entered the cloudy area, to the half tree.

Success! There it was nestled into a crevice, The bullseye in all it's glory, a shorter but thicker weapon then his rifle, and with its own sling and a rather odd three-part sight that seemed to sway as it moved. Quickly slinging it onto his back, he exited the gas cloud.

Attached to the weapon was a piece of paper. It had written on it: _They can't run and they can't hide, I am the point of the man that died._

Well, that one made less sense then the last one. But at least he had the bullseye. He gave a grin at the victory.

The grin vanished, due to the noise of a far off explosion, he could see smoke rising. Soon after, there was another explosion sounding off. Strangely no smoke came from that explosion, so he could only guess where it originated. The Bullseye on his back suddenly seemed tiny, insignificant.

The explosions had been rather big, bigger then any explosive he had in his arsenal easily. This was starting to look grim.

'_**As I said, you need my help. You know very well that you don't stand a chance.'**_

'_Oh, shut up Jordan Shepard.' _Hale used his human name to try and sting him, while he wrung an imaginary neck. This was more irritating then anything else, something he couldn't really fight.

On the plus side, it was becoming clear where his opposition were, most of them appeared to be quite loud. The problem was, it was beginning to look like a rather stupid idea to go after them.

'_Well, my best bet is to find the weapons, I guess.'_

'_**Your best bet would be allowing me to take control.'**_

Hale ignored Daedelus, it seemed to be the best thing to do, if not the easiest. He strode off, in search for the next weapon. Leaving the corpse of Bowser to rot, the large chunk of his arm missing making it appear that he had been killed by some sort of predator.

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**_Just a little aftermath thing, not very much to it. But with all the battles of epic proportions destroying things left and right, Hale's destruction of a couple of trees and a turtle suddenly seems a bit less... Powerful, wouldn't you think?_**


	4. Hale vs Roxas, The Key to Victory

**_Sadly this chapter is a bit late... Very sorry. Not much else to say. So yeah, read if you wish!_**

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Hale followed the trail. The rain had come suddenly, drenching him and everywhere around him, but the trail remained; if a bit more difficult to follow. There were traces. Mainly the faint etching of footprints, barely visible. Hale doubted he would have seen them without his eyes that now occasionally detected living things from far distances.

It was his best bet. The trail had taken him to the Bullseye, and it was natural that it would bring him to the next weapon.

'_**It's all for the better, you know.'**_

He tried to ignore the voice. No good would come from arguing with Daedelus. Just follow the trail Hale.

'_**You wouldn't need these weapons if you allowed me to take control, remember the brief time you had my power? The power to tear through your enemies so easily…**_

Hale nearly snapped, was nearly ready to start arguing. But he heard something.

He froze, slowly shuffling and slowly descending himself to the ground, so as not to make much noise.

The forest was not silent; the wind howled and the rain roared down. But it may as well have been silent. Hale ignored all those sounds, they were natural, what he wanted was something out of the ordinary…

There it was! Footsteps; light footsteps, but footsteps nonetheless.

Hale shifted slightly to look in the direction they were coming from.

It was an individual wearing a long black cloak that concealed all their features aside from two human hands, a giant key in each of them. They moved casually, which was at odds with the weather, the muddy earth, and the scenario they were probably in.

From the lack of visible features and the almost comedic giant keys, he was difficult to take seriously.

'_Focus Hale, that guy is probably a lot stronger then he looks.'_ Hale aimed the Bullseye at his opposition.

Yet still, he found himself hesitating. If the guy was as dangerous as he thought, his weapon would probably have little or no effect. If the guy wasn't, it seemed like a terrible thing to do, or at least a waste of his ammo.

So he went to plan B. His Bullseye had a secondary fire, a small tag that would pierce flesh or get a footing on metal, causing minimal damage and allow Hale to keep track of whoever it hit. The guy would feel a sting at most, and Hale would just have to slip silently away.

So, he fired.

That's when things started to go wrong.

The key, which had seemed to be rather loose by the cloaked figure's side, glinted as it rapidly moves to block the tag, which didn't seem to manage to attach at all to it and fell to the ground, Hale quickly deactivated it.

'Who's there!?' The cloaked figure turned around, both giant keys at the ready.

A sword of what appeared to be made of solid light materialized above the cloaked figure and sliced cleanly through a tree near where Hale was hidden, the sword hadn't been thick enough to go through the whole tree though, but the sword kept going, slicing through another tree before vanishing from sight.

Suddenly killing the guy seemed a much better option. He squeezed the primary fire trigger.

Small orange spheres erupted from the gun, although the noise wasn't so much an eruption as a shrill whiny noise, headed right for his opposition.

In a flash the giant keys were there, right in the path of the glowing spheres which struck and left no mark, and the opponent held firm, ignoring any impact that may have occurred. Now the key-wielding opponent knew where Hale was. He quickly got up just as his opponent started moving rapidly towards him.

Hale got off a few more shots, one missed entirely and the others hit the key as the attacker struck followed by the Bullseye going empty. A solid whack as Hale brought an arm up and blocked the two giant keys, his arm became numb from the pain and a large bruise started forming. But using his other arm Hale gave an uppercut to his opponent's stomach using the bullseye.

His opposition stumbled back, hale took advantage of the time to take out the Bullseye's empty clip, jumping back from a dazed slash by his opponent, and then putting in a new clip. A stab at the forehead required him to shift his head, but the stab diverted his attention away from his opponent's legs, which delivered a swift kick that took Hale down to his knees. Hale swung his gun towards his opponent to fire, but his opponent swung one of the keys into it; when Hale pulled the trigger it tore into the figure's hood, but not flesh.

But the hood no longer covered his face; Hale could see the spiky blonde hair and blue eyes of a teenage boy. 'Not bad…' His opponent murmured.

'What's a kid like you doing in this tournament?' Hale would have shaken his head if he hadn't seen what speed the kid was capable of.

'Same as everyone else, I guess.' He replied evenly, his giant keys in a defensive stance.

You got a family waiting at home?'

His opponent laughed, but what made Hale almost shiver was the lack of any emotion in it. It wasn't true nor bitter, it was simply a laugh. 'No family, I don't even exist. I'm Roxas, a Nobody. Soon you won't exist either.' A flash of what was probably killing intent flickered in his eyes.

This was a bit of a surprise, but Hale still threw his fist at the visible face.

Instead of flesh, his fist met metal as the key intercepted his strike yet again. Pain jolted across his arm. Hale had a plan, he just needed to force 'Roxas' back…

But the boy wasn't going to make it easy, although his face showed what may have been dull surprise as Hale brought his fist back, only for another punch. Once again there was pain, but Hale pushed himself forward and his opponent back, even as the bones in his fist protested. It helped that while Hale had found a tree root, his opponent had only mud to try and hold his ground with.

A step back, and Hale's eyes glinted. Success! That thought was contradictorily punctuated by a key being slammed into Hale's face, making blood leak out of his nose and leaving a large blotch on his face. Growling as he stumbled back, he fired the Bullseye.

Roxas had his keys ready to intercept, but didn't expect the projectiles to change course and shred his left leg. Instead of blood or indeed most normal reactions, black particles began seeping into the air, obscuring the area around his leg even as they faded into nothing. But as it began to stop Nathan could see a stump instead of a leg, and his opponent was forced to kneel.

Roxas gave a look of pain, but there was something… Fake about it. And his eyes never left Hale. Just as Hale moved to insert another clip, those light blades materialized and shot at him, one pierced the bullseye and travelled straight through, another narrowly missed his neck and a third pierced his stomach, missing the organs but hitting an artery. Blood spurted out.

It was then that Hale blacked out. His mind seemed out for the count, but his body remained standing.

Then it let out a roar. A roar that terrified the nearby animals into scurrying away, and gave contestants all around the island a shiver of discomfort. Whatever was controlling Hale was now sprinting on all fours, a savage look in those golden eyes heading right for Roxas even as more blades of light materialized and shot forward.

But the boy in black underestimated the speed of Hale's body. Most fell too far, or were avoided. One actually drove into Hale's leg, sending him off balance, yet he kept moving on all fours despite the increasing amount of blood trailing him like bread crumbs, Hale's skin paled, but it was too late for the boy. Hale was upon him.

Before the keys managed to go into a defensive position, Hale pinned Roxas' arms to the ground. Both pairs of arms strained; both had legs dangling uselessly.

Then Hale opened his mouth, revealing a set of carnivorous all-too-sharp teeth. He drove them into the unprotected face of Roxas.

Black particles obscured the area; Roxas' arms weakened.

Hale brought his head back, and rammed it into what remained of the unfortunate boys' head.

POOF!

There was a sudden explosion of darkness, as the rest of Roxas', the blades of light, and the two keys he wielded faded away… to nothing.

Snarling, Hale rummaged the dirt, expecting meat. But there was nothing, no food, only a scrap of metal, a 'keychain'.

It was at that point the gold eyes dimmed. He collapsed with a much more human groan.

Slowly, his mind returned to normal. Gasping, he crawled next to a tree in an attempt to limit the rain pelting down on his head. Not knowing quite why just seconds ago he had pocketed the keychain left behind.

Closing his eyes, he tried to even out his breathing. His wounds almost seemed to hiss as they slowly healed. But his head still throbbed, and his limbs barely responded.

'_**What a temper you have Hale…'**_ Daedelus' laughter echoed through his head.

'_I won't be so weak next time…'_ Hale almost immediately regretted thinking it.

'_**I only wish I could take full credit…'**_ Hale sensed bitterness from those words.

Then the full extent of those words hit him. He frowned, struggling into a sitting position. _'What do you mean?'_

'_**There is another manipulator of the mind on this island, he took advantage of your struggle with me to seize partial control, then left when the fight was over.'**_

'_But… why?'_

'_**I suppose it's one of the ways they keep the people in here fighting each other instead of trying to team up and free themselves.'**_

Well, things were just getting worse now.

Speaking of worse…

Scanning the area, he noted that the trail he had been following was just about gone, the vaguest of impressions. Hale needed to rest, but he also needed another weapon considering the Bullseye might not work after the blade had cut a hole in it and he had only one possibly waterlogged rifle and three magnum bullets. And if all his opponents were as fast as the previous two, the grenades were probably useless.

Groaning, Hale crawled along the ground, his blurring vision making it nearly impossible to follow the trail. The mud was almost a spider's web, every bit forward took effort. _'Follow the trail, Hale.'_ Although since he had his face in it, he was getting rather sick of the trail.

He didn't know how long it was. But the trail got him to a mound. It was little more then mud, so he reached out and pushed his hand through, dragging out a weapon that seemed to be a rifle, but instead of a scope it had a small screen which showed heat signatures, of which at the moment there seemed to be none.

As he tested the screen, he noticed where he was. He probably should have guessed from the sounds of the waves crashing.

He was on a cliff, rather close to the edge, but far enough to feel safe.

'_Dead man's point…'_

Even as he thought of these things, the blood loss and the exertion forced hale into unconsciousness even as it started to heal…

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**_So yeah, hope you enjoyed it. I'm sure most other entrants in the tourny will know who the other mind manipulator is :). I'm so egotistical..._**

**_Anyway, I don't seem to be showing mercy hey? well, the tourny seems to need a bit of a speed up anyway, even if i sorta took too long to post this... It is rather amazing actually how much damage you can do yet keep it PG or M so long as it isn't human hey?_**

**_Well, hope you enjoyed!_**


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